The Best Aldi Beer You Can Buy
While Aldi may have won awards for its budget-priced wines, its beer selection, at least in the U.S., hasn't received quite as many rave reviews. Although the available line of beers may vary from location to location, the basic line seems to consist mainly of both imported and domestic knockoffs of better-known brands such as the Blue Moon-esque Kinroo Blue, the Heineken lookalike Holland Lager 1839, and the not-Not Your Father's Big Brother Hard Root Beer. They've even recently introduced a line of White Claw-ish hard seltzers called Vista Bay.
So which of Aldi's beers are actually worth trying? While your mileage may vary, these are our picks for Aldi's best beer.
Best import beer: Wernesgrüner Pilsner
Aldi is a German company, after all, so perhaps it's no surprise that their top-rated beer hails from their country of origin. Certified cicerone (aka super-knowledgeable beer guru) Eric Sadovnick, interviewed by Thrillist, weighed in on 12 different Aldi brews, and the Wernesgrüner was his number one pick. He called it "a really impressive beer [with] a nice long finish and a depth of flavor." Beer Advocate forum users have described it as "quite a good Pilsner" and having a "classic pils profile, not overhopped, grassy, dry finish." One German Redditor, commenting that the Wernesgrüner is "a pretty well known and liked brand" in Germany, advises that you "...go try it. It's good." Danke, don't mind if we do.
Best premium (domestic) beer: Third Street Brewhouse Hop Lift IPA
If you're more of a U.S. craft brew fan, your Aldi selection is somewhat more limited, although all of their domestic offerings are billed as premium. Makes sense — if you're going to brew knockoffs, why bother knocking off Budweiser when you can replicate microbrews instead? Actually, though, Aldi's best domestic beer isn't a knockoff anything, since Third Street Brewhouse is a legit Minnesota microbrewery, and their Hop Lift IPA is a pretty decent example of its type. It has an almost-four star rating from Beer Advocate (as of August 2019), and cicerone Sadovnick rated it third-best of all Aldi beer offerings, making it tops amongst the domestic brands. He also said it would pair well with carrot cake which seems, ummm, oddly specific, but okay. We'll take that to mean it goes with anything.